Pad holddown clamp



June ZB, 1959 I w. H. LIITTLE 2,891,295

PAD HOLDDOWNY CLAMP Filed Jan. 16, 1 956 I I 5 William H. Lift/e INVENTOR.

2 Sheets-Sheet 1' United States Patent PAD HOLDDOWN CLAMP WilliamH. Little, La Grange, Ga. Application January 16, 1956, SerialNo. 559,266 2 Claims. (Cl. 24-66) The present invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in clamps which are expressly, though not necessarily, constructed and designed to maintain writing pads; sheets of writing paper and the like on a basing surface to facilitate making notes. More particul'arly, the clamp was. planned. to. effectually hold notepaper on a. clip board but was later found to be aptly usable. on an.instr'.ument panel in an automobile. for sim ilar. clamping purposes. and. equally well adapted to hold a memorandum pad; on and in connection with a special telephone base for similar retaining purposes.

It is believed to-beunnecessary, however, to list the many objectives which are susceptible of accomplishment with the invention at bar and it will therefore simplify, it is believed the presentation of the invention to think of it in connection with a pad or sheet holder for clip boards. Therefore, in carrying out the principles of the invention a construction is provided which is characterized by a bracket which is designed to be bolted or otherwise fastened on one end of the clip board and which has an upright. A flexibly resilient arm is pivotally attached to the upper end of the upright at one end. At the other end there is a suitably pivoted blade, the blade being preferably provided with a strip of rubber or equivalent means which contacts and presses the pad, or alternatively the sheets of paper, firmly in place for retention while notes and equivalent writings are being taken care of.

Other objects, features and advantages will become more readily apparent from the following description and the accompanying sheets of illustrative drawings.

In the drawings, wherein like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the various views:

Figure 1 is a plan view of the invention showing how it is constructed and how it is attached to and used in conjunction with a clip board or the like;

Figure 2 is a section on the central line 2-2 of Figure 1 looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary perspective view showing the invention on an enlarged scale;

Figure 4 is an exaggerated section on the line 4-4 of Figure 1 looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 5 is a top plan view looking down on the upper edge of the clip board in Figure 1 and showing the clamping blade and arm in released positions;

Figure 6 is a perspective view of a modification wherein the bracket is attached by way of a rubber suction cup or the like;

Figure 7 is a view in section and elevation showing the embodiment of Figure 6 and the manner in which it is used.

Referring now to the drawings and particularly to Figures 1 to 5 inclusive the clip board or equivalent base or support is denoted by the numeral 8. This is of course conventional. The attaching bracket, which is of rigid metal or the like, is denoted by the numeral 10 and is preferably L-shaped. The short arm 12 is secured to the end portion of the clip board by way of a 2,891,295 Patented June 23, 1959 bolt 14 and a complemental nut 16. The long arm 18, when thus attached extends at right angles to the surface of the clip board. Although incidental the numeral 20 designates a suitably shaped clip which is welded or otherwise secured to the arm and constitutes a holder for a pencil. At what may be called the upper or outer end the long arm 18 has a depression or indentation forming a keeper seat 22. for a correspondingly shaped detent 24 on the cooperating portion of the swingable or pivotally mounted" arm 26. To. this end one end portion 28 of the arm is superimposed on the cooperating end portion of the arm and is hinged on pivoted thereon as at 30. This arm is of springy metal and may be said to-have a compound'curve. This permits the end portion to be properly superimposed on and pivoted and allows the other end portion 32 to be. offset and to swing in a satisfactory arcuate path to the position seen in Figures 1 to 3 for example, or alternatively to the up and outeofthe-way position seen in Figure 5. The inherent spring tension of this arm serves as a satisfactory means for applying theclamping and retaining pressure of the holddownblad'e 34; This blade resembles a wiper blade used for example on an automobile windshield wiper, also sometimes used on a so-called squeegee. In any event they blade is pivotally mounted intermediate its ends at 36 on the cooperating end" portion 32 of the arm 26'. It comprises a suitable sheath 38 as seen in Figure 4 which is equipped with a rubber blade: 40 the edge of which extends in a manner to resiliently contact and press the sheets of paper 42 against the surface of the backing or clip board. The expression sheets is here used to cover letter sheets, scrap paper, or sheets embodied in a pad or the like. In this construction when the paper or pad is put in position for use the arm 26 and blade 34 is swung up and out-of-the-way when it assumes a position clear of the board. Then the paper or pad is laid in place and the arm and blade are swung back down to permit the blade, which is substantially self-levelling and the adaptable springy arm to come into play to hold the pad regardless of the thickness thereof. That is to say, the arm 26 will yield to accommodate the varying clamping requirements all in what is believed to be an obvious manner.

It is to be pointed out that if desired the same bolt which fastens the bracket 10 in place may be used to secure the hanger lug or car too. This is denoted by the numeral 44 and is located at one end of the clip board and has a suitably off-set attaching shank 46 which is interposed between the short arm 12 and the board and held by the bolt and nut means.

As already pointed out the clamp is not restricted, of course, to use on clip boards. It may be employed wherever necessary or desirable. For instance a second and highly desirable use is that wherein the device may be employed for instance on the curvate or convex surface of an automobile instrument panel Where it is sometimes necessary to hold sheets of paper for making notes and preparing memoranda. Reference is therefore had to Figure 6 wherein it will be noticed that the parts already described are denoted by the same reference numerals. In fact the only difference here is in the means for attaching the device to the instrument panel 48. The means is preferably a rubber suction cup 50 having a shank 52 with a suitable constructed upper surface to permit the aforementioned short arm 12 to be fastened thereto by a screw or the like 54. It will be evident therefore that the essential parts are the bracket 10, the self-accommodating pivoted yieldable arm 26 and the self-levelling adapting rubber-surfaced blade 34.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

' What is claimed as new is as follows: I

p l. A pad clamping and holddown device for use on andin conjunction with a clip board or an equivalent relatively stationary support comprising, in combination, a rubber suction cup attachable to the support surface, an L-shaped attaching bracket having one end operatively supported atop the central portion of the suction cup, an arm having one end overlapping and hinged- 1y connected to an end portion of the upright portion of said bracket, said arm having curved portions representing a compound curve, said arm being bendably resilient, a rigid sheath pivotally connected intermediate its ends to the opposite end portion of said arm, and a rubber blade mounted in said sheath and projecting beyond the sheath and adapted to contact the article which is to be clampingly held.

2. A pad clamping and holddown device expressly, but not necessarily, adapted to be used on and in connection with the work support surface of a clip board or the like, a rigid substantially L-shaped bracket having a short arm adapted to be fastened on the clip board with the long arm extending at right angles from the work supporting surface of said board, an elongated rigid sheath equipped with an elongated rubber strip member which projects beyond an edge of the sheath and is adapted to bear in contact upon the article which is to be clampingly held between the rubber member and work support surface, and a resilient arm having curvate bends cooperating in giving the arm the shape of a compound curve, said arm having one end portion spaced from the corresponding end portion of the long arm of the bracket and pivotally connected to an intermediate portion of said sheath, the opposite end portion of said arm being substantially flat and superimposed upon the outer free end portion of the long arm and being hingedly connected to said free end portion permitting said resilient arm to swing in a plane relatively parallel to the long arm of the bracket and which when the sheath parallels the work surface the resilient arm is placed under tension to yieldingly clamp the pad or other part which the rubber member engages.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

